tireball.com

It feels almost silly to have to mention that Kiko Calero is a non roster invitee considering he appeared in 67 games for the Florida Marlins and had a 1.95 ERA.

It’s not that those numbers were believed to be a fluke it’s just most teams (for unknown reasons to me) were scared off of the idea of signing Calero over concerns about the health of his arm.

Calero as a non roster invitee is a great move on the part of the Mets. Calero has proved to be a reliable arm out of the pen with only one season of an ERA abouve 4, and that same 2007 season being the lone time his WHIP topped 1.30.

In 7 big league seasons spent between St. Louis, Oakland and Florida he’s pitched 302.2 innings and has a 3.24 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. Batters have combined to hit just .217 against him, again with the bulk of that being in 2007.

Calero has done nothing to prove he’s not ready for the 2010 season and all signs point to him being one of the key cogs in the Mets bullpen.

	Non-Roster Invitees
	Pitchers	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB
	90 Travis Blackley	L/L	6-3	205	11/04/82
	94 Kiko Calero	R/R	6-1	210	01/09/75
	64 Elmer Dessens	R/R	5-11	200	01/13/71
	36 R.A. Dickey	R/R	6-2	215	10/29/74
	93 Jack Egbert	L/R	6-3	220	05/12/83
	43 Josh Fogg	R/R	6-0	205	12/13/76
	68 Bobby Livingston	L/L	6-3	205	09/03/82
	32 Arturo Lopez	L/L	5-10	185	02/22/83
	76 Jenrry Mejia	R/R	6-0	160	10/11/89
	70 Carlos Muniz	R/R	6-1	190	03/12/81
	77 Eric Niesen	L/L	6-0	185	09/04/85
	47 Hisanori Takahashi	L/L	5-10	170	04/02/75
	Catchers	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB
	72 Kai Gronauer	R/R	6-1	205	11/28/86
	73 Luke Montz	R/R	6-2	225	07/07/83
	71 Mike Nickeas	R/R	6-0	210	02/13/83
	74 Francisco Pena	R/R	6-2	230	10/12/89
	73 Shawn Riggans	R/R	6-2	200	07/25/80
	Infielders	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB
	65 Russ Adams	L/R	6-0	200	08/30/80
	22 Jolbert Cabrera	R/R	6-2	205	12/08/72
	67 Mike Cervenak	R/R	5-11	195	08/17/76
	78 Ike Davis	L/L	6-4	215	03/22/87
	10 Andy Green	R/R	5-10	180	07/07/77
	80 Luis Hernandez	S/R	5-10	180	06/26/84
	66 Mike Hessman	R/R	6-5	215	03/05/78
	35 Mike Jacobs	L/R	6-3	215	10/30/80
	79 Ruben Tejada	R/R	5-11	160	10/27/89
	Outfielders	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB
	2 Frank Catalanotto	L/R	6-0	195	04/27/74
	62 Jesus Feliciano	L/L	5-10	190	06/06/79
	91 Kirk Nieuwenhuis	L/R	6-3	210	08/07/87

Popularity: 1% [?]

Kiko Calero has been a pretty good reliever when healthy but he’s also had a nice run of injuries in his big league career which has led to teams holding off on offering him any guaranteed money this winter.

Last year Calero played for the Florida Marlins and posted a fine 1.95 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 69/30 K/BB ratio in 60 innings after coming to camp as a non-roster invitee.

Last winter I highlighted Calero’s time in Oakland.

In four seasons with the A’s Calero pitched 159 innings. He spent a good portion of last season in the minors but in six big league seasons is 12-10 with a 3.56 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP.

There aren’t many relievers out there on big league clubs with actual contracts that can point to those numbers. So it’s a surprise that Calero couldn’t find guaranteed money.

One wound think that a fly-ball pitcher like Calero would be a pretty good pickup for a team like the Mets so it will be interesting to see if this ever comes to pass.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Frank Catalanotto has signed a minor league deal with the New York Mets. The 35 year old was somewhat productive last season after signing a minor league deal with Milwaukee finishing with a .278/.346/.382 line with one home run and nine RBI while wrestling playing time away from Corey Hart.

With the Mets he’d figure to be used primarily as a pinch hitter and may see some playing time at first or the corner outfield positions. A left handed swinger he’s got a .819 career OPS against right handed pitchers.

Despite Catalanotto’s short comings it’s quite surprising he couldn’t get a guaranteed contract entering this year, then again I suppose I said the same following his release at the end of spring training last year.

While the Mets had still occasionally been linked to Carlos Delgado this likely closes the door on that as the Mets likely would be better off with Catalanotto occasionally appearing in the lineup opposed toe Delgado who apparently cannot field grounders without hobbling

.

Popularity: 8% [?]

On and off again this winter we have heard that Johnny Damon and the New York Yankees haven’t been talking about bringing the outfielder back. Damon had been wanting a three year deal from the Yankees worth in excess of $10 million annually.

The 36-year-old had a tremendous 2009 season, finishing with a .282/.365/.489 batting line, 24 home runs, 82 RBI and 107 runs scored in 550 at-bats.

With Hideki Matsui signed by the Angels and Melky Cabrera traded to the Braves the Yankees currently have Brent Garnder listed atop the depth chart in left field. Gardner finished last year hitting .270/.345/.379 with 3 homers, 23 RBI, and 48 runs scored while stealing 26 bases last year.

That alone has many believing that despite Damon, his agent Scott Boras and the Yankees not talking that something will eventually get done to bring him back to the Bronx.

Brian Cashman and the Yankees front office either have little interest in bringing back Damon or they have played their cards excellently to avoid paying him a huge contract. With the number of teams interested in Damon dwindling his value has also went down. Leaving some to suspect that the Yankees will now swoop in and sign him.

It’s been back and forth between Mark Bowman of MLB.com and David O’Brien of the AJC to whether the Braves are seriously looking at Damon. Damon to Atlanta would be great for the Braves as it would allow them to put him in left field which would allow Jason Heyward to stay in the minors and get needed at-bats he’s missed since his latest string of injuries.

Last winter Bobby Abreu signed a $5 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels. It may take that to happen for the Braves to have a real shot at him. Though some believe the Braves may only be able to sign Damon should he fall in the range of $1-2 million, a number no one can truly see him falling to. For example Colby Lewis recently got $5 million over 2 years and he spent the last two years in Japan after no success in the majors. There’s simply no way Damon gets paid less then Colby Lewis.

The Detroit Tigers were linked to Damon in the last few days but management denied they were even considering him. Considering the Tigers are financially stressed and have been looking for at-bats for Ryan Raburn it’s easy to see why these two aren’t a pair.

There’s always the chance he could join the New York Mets but Boras and the Mets are at odds over Carlos Beltran’s recent surgery.

One thing is for sure. We haven’t heard the end of this one.

Popularity: 8% [?]

After wavering about signing a high end outfielder the Mets eventually caved and have agreed on a four year deal with Jason Bay worth $66 million, or an average of $16.5 million.

The Mets had bee n in talks with both Bay and Matt Holliday about filling their left field spot.

Angel Pagan who hit .306/.350/.487 in 383 at-bats last season with 8 homers and 32 RBI now moves into the position as the teams fourth outfielder.

Bay finished last year with a .267/.384/.537 line and compiled his second season of 100-plus RBI as he finished with 119 aided by 36 homers.

With the transformation from Fenway to Citi Field it’s likely Bay’s numbers could see a small dip but at 31 years of age Bay still has plenty of years of hitting the ball well and playing sub-par defense ahead of him.

With the exception of left field the Mets didn’t have much to address on the offensive side of the ball entering this winter so barring the always rumored trade of Luis Castillo it’s likely the Mets are done adding impact players to the lineup.

Clearly on paper the Mets were expected to do better then the 70-92 record they put up last season but that didn’t factor in costly injuries most notably Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado.

Daniel Murphy, who had far better second half, figures to improve going forward while expecting David Wright to be held to 10 homers and 72 RBI again would be foolhardy.

It’s difficult to project the Mets based on last year. Without the heart of their lineup they finished 12th in runs scored in the NL and last in homers. Oddly the Mets actually led the NL with a .270 batting average and were 7th in OBP but their 12th place rank in slugging made it difficult to score.

In addition only Mike Pelfry (10-12, 5.03) made more then 30 starts last season and Livan Hernandez (7-8, 5.47) actually made 23 starts for the club. Here’s the current depth chart of Met pitchers and their number of starts last season Johan Santana (25), Pelfry (31), John Maine (15), Oliver Perez (14) and Jonathan Niese (2).

It’s safe to say that the Mets are due for improvement this year but to what degree.

What do you think? Does Jason Bay push the Mets into contention? Is he just another example of what money can buy? Is the quartet

of Reyes, Beltran, Wright and Bay one of the best in the majors? Will Bay help the team avoid a late season collapse?

Popularity: 7% [?]